The Tampa Bay Rowdies have strengthened their midfield with the signing of Danish player Martin Vingaard through the end of the season.
The midfield has been under constant tinkering by the Rowdies over the past two seasons. The team brought in highly regarded Joe Cole earlier this year, and last year gave Freddie Adu a tryout.
Vangaard, 31, is a traditional box-to-box midfielder, the kind that you love to watch play because he seems to be all over the field,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “He’s quite tall and is an imposing presence for opposition in the center of the park.”
Vingaard has played his entire career thus far in his native country. He debuted with lower-division Boldklubben 1913 in 2003 and made the step up to the Danish SuperLiga in 2005 with Esbjerg fB. He joined Denmark’s biggest club, FC Copenhagen in 2009 and made 97 appearances for the Danish giants before departing for FC Nordsjaelland in 2013.
While with Copenhagen, a club with regular appearances in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, Vingaard scored 16 goals, including three in Europe’s greatest club competition. Vingaard played in either the Champions League or Europa League every season between 2008 and 2014.
“We’re delighted to add another player with senior national team experience to our group,” Campbell said. “He’s represented his national team and he’s represented the biggest club in his country in the Champions League and scored a few goals doing it. He’s another creative player we can use that will help out every player around him.”
The Rowdies are home Saturday night against the New York Cosmos.